MIDDLETOWN – A recent stroll through the RECIPROCITY exhibit in the EcoArts Sculpture Walk was on a stunning day under a sky flecked with occasional rain clouds. The location, a recovering stretch of park with dry grasses, desiccated wildflowers, burned stumps and skeletons of trees killed by the Valley Fire, is enlivened by artworks set amongst new growth. It’s a “must see” for the community.
Broad paths lead to installations that offer transforming views onto the surrounding countryside and new perspectives on other sculptures. Fired pottery, charred and hollowed tree trunks, bound sapling wood, mud and straw, as well as steel and twine, are used in a collaborative evolution of the landscape. The work and the setting comment on the inevitable change arising from the interaction of elemental forces. It’s redolent of a bouquet of flowers allowed to dry and wither into something more evocative than its original moist cluster of color. There is nothing for the pollinators here, in this season, but the heat has burst the seedcoat on something taking root along the pathways of Middletown’s Trailside Park at 21435 Dry Creek Cutoff just off 175.
This is a place where the observer collaborates with the intention of the artists. Each of the works transforms with changing viewpoints, beckoning us to circle, to step forward and fall back. Set against the sky, the greenery in the distance, the blond grasses or ruddy soil of the foreground, the sculptures change weight and density against their backdrops.
In Jaymie Hernandez de la Torre’s “Mestizaje Germination” we see an evocative figure rising from a dead stump, but as we circle it, the significance opens with the progress of our view. The blackened char of the interior of the stump separates the clay figure from the surroundings, but the form rises above the wooden shell inviting us to looking out from its scorched perspective, from a ground littered with “seeds” from the community.
Scott Parady’s ceramic “Great Basin” rises from its ceramic base where knots break through an inverted colander shape to be held aloft by steel pipes. The basin itself appears rescued from antiquity with geometric water traps on its upper surface to capture fleeting rain.
Karen Turcotte’s “Obsidian Bowl” has an obsidian ring surrounding a fragmented concavity, that allowed a single blade of green grass to poke through on this visit. The artist notes that both the obsidian and the soil she brought in from Cobb Mountain, are products of volcanic activity.
Marcus Maria Jung’s “Resurrection” is a haunting arrangement of river rocks and oak tree remnants with a dead tree reaching up behind it. The blackened cupping interior spaces of one trunk reach out to us while providing a slender sight to the mountain, sky or terrain beyond.
“The park and EcoArts Sculpture Walk are like a reflection of South County’s story through the Valley Fire and COVID challenges and our evolving recovery from both,” said Lisa Kaplan, MAC’s Artistic and Executive Director. “RECIPROCITY, …is a symbol of the profound connection between art, the natural world, and community. The new exhibit highlights the park’s remarkable recovery and signifies a collective commitment to nurturing and respecting the environment.”
RECIPROCITY features new works by 16 artists, and is made possible in part by a $60,000 grant from the California Arts Council and Upstate California Creative Corps. It is located at Middletown’s Trailside County Park located at 21435 Dry Creek Cutoff off Highway 175 between Middletown and Anderson Springs.
Middletown Art Center is a Lake County non-profit dedicated to engaging the public in art making, art education, and art appreciation. For inquiries or further information, please contact the Middletown Art Center at 707-355-4465 or email info@middletownartcenter.org. The MAC is located at 21456 State Hwy 175 in Middletown.
